BINGO LEARNS TO COME WHEN HE IS CALLED
Bingo was a very clever little dog—he learned very quickly all the tricks that Charlie taught. He could sit up and beg, and he could bark three times for the flag, and when Charlie put a piece of cake on his nose Bingo could toss it in the air and catch it in his mouth, and, if Charlie threw a stick, Bingo would always run and bring it back. Yes, Bingo could do all these things and he liked to do them again and again. He was such a clever little dog that all the boys in the neighborhood knew him well, and they used to watch him over the fence doing all the tricks that he had learned.
But there was one thing that Bingo never would learn and that was to come immediately when he was called. If Bingo thought that Charlie was going for a walk or that his dinner was ready, he would come the very minute that Charlie called him; but if he was doing something interesting or something that he should not be doing, Charlie could call “Bingo, Bingo, Bingo,” till he was hoarse, Bingo would not come! He would wag his tail and perk up his ears to show that he had heard, but he would not come.
One day Charlie was playing in the garden with Bingo and Topsy when Bingo suddenly saw something that interested him in the road and he scrambled under the gate and went scampering along down the road.
Charlie did not approve of this at all. He called and he called, “Bingo, Bingo, Bingo”—but Bingo would not come, he went on racing along the road. He had decided that he would like to go out and see the world!
Then Charlie ran into the house to tell his Mother and his Auntie. He could not run after Bingo, because of course he was not allowed to go outside the garden gate by himself. His Auntie did not even wait to put on her sweater though it was very cold; she ran straight out of the gate to bring Bingo back—but Bingo had ab-so-lute-ly disappeared!
Charlie and his Auntie put on their coats and went a long distance down the road, calling Bingo all the time, but they could not find him anywhere. They asked everybody that they met if they had seen a little white dog with black spots but nobody had seen him. Then they went home again, hoping that Bingo would have arrived there before them. But no, Bingo was not there!
Now I will tell you what happened to Bingo. When he had run along the road for quite a distance he came to a turning where the road ran very steeply downhill. There was a boy with a bob sled, and just as Bingo reached the corner the boy lay down flat on his sled, and biff! off he flew down the hill! Bingo was much excited. He barked, “Yap, yap, yap,” and ran after the bob sled as fast as ever he could. He was determined to catch that bob sled! But of course he could not. The boy and the sled reached the bottom of the hill before Bingo, but not long before.
The boy had decided to go home, as it was near his dinner time, and he was dragging his sled after him when Bingo arrived at the bottom of the hill, all out of breath and with his little red tongue hanging out. But he was not too out of breath to jump up at the boy and bark “Yap, yap, yap!” He was trying to tell him how glad he was that he had caught up with him at last.
The boy patted Bingo on the head and talked to him, but of course he did not know his name as he lived quite a distance away and had never seen Bingo before.
Bingo liked the boy very much and decided that he would go for a walk with him. So he followed after him. It was a long, long walk, but at last they arrived at the boy’s house.
It was a tall brick house very much larger than the house in which Bingo lived with Charlie; and it had to be larger too, because a great many people lived in it—two families lived on every floor!
The boy climbed up five flights of stairs; he lived on the top floor of all—and Bingo followed after him.
The boy’s Mother was cooking dinner in the kitchen and she was very much surprised when she saw Bingo. She said, “Who is that dog?” The boy said, “I found him and I am going to keep him for my dog. I have always wanted one.”
But his Mother said, “How can we keep a dog when we live five flights up and have only three rooms? It is impossible. After you have had your dinner you must take him back to where you found him, then he will be able to find his way home. He has a collar on so he must belong to somebody. In the meantime, take him downstairs and tie him up in the yard. I have just washed the kitchen floor and I am afraid he will make it dirty again.”
The boy felt very sad because he could not keep Bingo, but he took him down to the yard as his Mother had told him to, and he tied him up to the fence with a piece of rope.
Bingo did not like this at all. He pulled and he pulled and he pulled, but he could not get loose. He pulled and he pulled and—he PULLED, and—suddenly the fastening of his collar snapped (it snapped because Charlie had not fastened it properly that morning), and Bingo was a free dog.
Then he scampered gayly out of the yard and into the street again. He thought that it was time to go home to Charlie and his dinner. But—what do you think? Bingo could not find his way home! He ran through street after street but he could not find the house where he lived with Charlie and Topsy and Jane. The boy’s Mother must have thought that Bingo was older than he really was when she said that he could find his way home by himself.
Bingo was beginning to be worried—there were a great many children playing in the streets through which he passed and every now and again he thought that he saw Charlie, but it always turned out that he was mistaken. Sometimes some of the children would try to stop him but Bingo always ran away from them. He wanted to go home.
At last he passed four little boys who were walking along together. Bingo was very tired now and he was not running any more; no, he was walking very slowly and limping a little because he had hurt his foot.
One of the boys looked at him limping along in front and he said, “Look at that puppy. He looks exactly like Charlie’s Bingo, who does such wonderful tricks!”
The other boy said, “He does look like him. Let’s call him and see if he answers to the name Bingo.” So they called, “Bingo, Bingo, Bingo!”
You may be sure that when Bingo heard his name called this time he did come running as fast as ever he could.
Bingo did not know the boys but they knew him. They had often watched him over the fence doing the tricks that Charlie had taught him, so they knew where he lived. Now that they were sure it was Bingo, as he had come at once when they called him, they decided that they would take him back to his home; for they knew how unhappy Charlie must be because he had lost his dog.
One of the strange boys held Bingo
But they were afraid that Bingo might run away again, so one of the boys held on to him while the others made a harness for him out of some string that one of them had in his pocket. Then they put it on Bingo and they tied a long piece of string to the middle of the harness for a leash.
So they started on their way—but you can think how funny Bingo did look in his rope harness! The boys could not help laughing at him, and Bingo did not like that at all. He had a feeling that he looked very ragged and untidy, as indeed he did; and all the dogs that he met and who wore beautiful collars, sniffed at him, as though to say, “What an extraordinary thing to wear, instead of a collar!”
Bingo wished very much that he had not lost his own collar, which was a very beautiful one. He wanted to stop and tell the other dogs all about it. But the four boys were in a hurry, and they pulled at his rope so that he had to follow them.
At last they reached the bottom of the hill that the boy had coasted down. It was ever so much harder to climb up that hill than it had been running down it that morning. But at last they got to the top and Bingo began to feel very excited because he recognized the street that they were now walking along. Every single day he walked along that street with Charlie and Charlie’s Mother and his Auntie on their way to the park.
And—then at last they reached the garden gate and Bingo was home! He was so excited that he barked “Yap, yap, yap!”
Charlie was eating his supper in the dining room and when he heard it he said, “That’s Bingo’s bark!” and he and his Mother and his Auntie and his Daddy all jumped up from the table and ran to the front door. And—there were the four little boys holding Bingo by the rope!
Well, you may be sure that everybody was glad to see Bingo. Charlie grabbed him in his arms and hugged him while he thanked the boys for bringing him home, and Charlie’s Mother and his Auntie thanked them also. Then Charlie’s Daddy put his hand in his pocket and he brought out four beautiful new quarters and he gave one to each of the boys, so they were very happy, too. But the happiest of all was Bingo, he barked till he could bark no more because he was hoarse. He barked so loudly that he wakened Jane and Topsy from their nap and they came out to see what it all meant.
When Jane saw Bingo, what do you think she did? Why, she started to wash him! Yes, she did; she washed him all over and he needed it, I can tell you.
Then, when Bingo was nice and clean, Charlie gave him his dinner, and when he had eaten it he was so tired that he curled up beside Jane on the kitchen rug, just as if he was a baby puppy again, and went fast asleep. But always after that, Bingo would come when he was called. He came so quickly when Charlie called, “Bingo, Bingo, Bingo,” that everybody noticed it, and said to Charlie, “What a well-trained dog you have. Did you train him yourself?” And Charlie would say, “Yes, I did. He is a clever dog; there isn’t anything that Bingo can’t do!” And I don’t believe there was!
